Some of the ex-militants undergoing training the Amnesty Programme initiated by the federal government allegedly bombed a hotel in Osubi, in Okpe local government area of Delta State on Monday.

It was gathered that the ex-militants were resident in the hotel. They however alleged that the consultant was colluding with the management of the hotel to deprive them of their entitlements.

This prompted them to bomb the hotel.

Although details are still sketchy, LEADERSHIP gathered that a section of the hotel had collapsed as a result of the bombing, leaving some rooms damaged.

It was further gathered that some arrest have been made.

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Alhaji Aminu Kofar-Soro, Sokoto State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), said on Monday that it had worked out an operational order on how to confront any security threat.

Kofar-Soro told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto that already, officers of the Command had been briefed on modalities for the exercise.

He said that plain clothed security personnel had been deployed in the metropolis and the Local Government Areas to gather intelligence information.

The Commandant solicited for the support of the general public with relevant information that would assist the Command in confronting such threats.

He said that such information would greatly assist the officers in evolving security measures to arrest and prosecute criminals.

Kofar-Soro called on officers and men of the command to continue to work hard, adding that the honest and dedicated staff would be rewarded.

A State Security operative was on Sunday night shot by unidentified gunmen in Damaturu, Yobe.

Alhaji Lawal Tanko, the Commissioner of Police in Yobe, confirmed the incident on Monday, in a telephone? interview with a NAN correspondent.

He said that the victim was immediately rushed to hospital but NAN learnt that the victim died in the hospital and was buried early on Monday.

Although there was a loud noise at about 7 p.m. when the security operative was shot, Lawal said there was no damage to give a clue to the site of the explosion.

“We were told of an explosion but there are no trace of damage nor the of explosion. However, we are still working on it,”? the Police Commissioner stated.

To check the spate of insecurity in the state, use of commercial motorcycles were banned in some selected Local Government Areas in the state.

The family of the commercial bus attendant, Mr. Rashidi Alabi, who was alleged to have been forcefully pulled down from a moving Volkswagen 14-seater commercial bus with registration number XZ 78 AGL by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA ) for failing to part with N50 has appealed to the Inspector General of Police to bring the culprits to book.

The eldest brother of the slain bus conductor, Mr. Fatai Alabi, told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND at the Ketu Police Station that the family would do everything possible to see that justice is done.

He said the family had also contacted their lawyers to sue both the LASTMA official involved and the Lagos State government over what he called high-handedness of the LASTMA official against his brother whose life was cut short.

“Rashidi was just 30-year-old and struggling to survive here in Lagos. He does not offend anyone. He leaves home early in the morning everyday and comes back very late so that he can cater for his wife and family. We all cherished his steadfastness to work and was not a burden to anyone of us.

“He takes good care of his wife and three children. Just recently, his wife gave birth and he is yet to perform the child’s naming ceremony. How do we take care of his poor widow and the kids,” he asked with a sober-laden voice.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has begun full investigation into the circumstance surrounding the killing of? Alabi by LASMA officials at Toll Gate area along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday.

The commissioner for Transportation, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, who said the incident was rather unfortunate, disclosed that the state government had begun preliminary investigation into the alleged killing.

Opeifa assured that the state government would get to the root of the matter, while commiserating with the family of the victim.

The Nigerian Army on Thursday in Jos reiterated its resolve to put an end to the activities of the Boko Haram sect and other religious extremists.

Maj.-Gen. Adamu Marwa, the GOC, 3 Armoured Division, who gave the warning in a statement, said the Division would no longer condone any act of criminality, particularly in the North-East zone, which falls within its area of responsibility.

He announced that the Army Headquarters had ordered the Division to relocate its “tactical headquarters'' to Gombe, in view of the intractable security situation in the region.

Marwa said the measure was to enable the army to properly co-ordinate and fight the activities of religious extremists in the North-East zone.

He said soldiers trained as members of the Quick Response Group had been fully deployed to fish out the criminal elements within the area.

Marwa expressed satisfaction with the operational readiness and equipment handling of the officers and soldiers of the? group, and challenged them to maintain a high level of alertness at all times, so as not to be taken unawares by any criminal group.

He said the Army High Command had visited Boko Haram settlements destroyed by troops in Bauchi, Gombe, Potiskum, Maiduguri, Damaturu, Biu, Mubi and Yola, adding that the troops also arrested some suspects.

“The suspects are undergoing interrogation in various parts within the Division.''

Marwa decried the wanton destruction of lives and property by religious extremists in the area, and advised them to embrace peace in their own interest.

He assured members of the public who were resident in the region, of the safety of the lives and property, and urged them to go about their lawful activities without fear.

Six persons were killed on Wednesday night at Shehuri North of Maiduguri Metropolis, Bauchi State.

The spokesperson of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Lt. Col. Hassan Moh'd confirmed the incident.

He said investigation shows that the deceased persons may have been killed by members of the Boko Haram sect.

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Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers bombed a police station at Ogori, in Ogori/Magongo local government of Kogi State, killing a police corporal.

LEADERSHIP reliably gathered that the hoodlums stormed the area in the on Tuesday night, firing sporadic shots into the air to scare away residents of the area.

They wasted no time in invading the divisional police headquarters in the area, bombing the armoury before taking away all the arms and ammunition? in the station.

One of the officers on duty, our correspondent further learnt, who attempted to engage the hoodlums, was gunned down.

When contacted, the spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said he was yet to be officially briefed on the matter. However, he confirmed that he had equally heard of the incident, the kind of which was fast becoming too rampant in the state.

LEADERSHIP recalls that some gunmen had similarly invaded and bombed Kabba and Aiyetoro-Gbedde police stations in the western axis of the state at the tail end of last year, making away with arms and ammunition from the armoury.

No fewer than five people were shot dead yesterday following a clash between two rival campus cults operating at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

LEADERSHIP findings showed that the clash was between the Eiye Confraternity and the Buccaneers who allegedly operated unchallenged for hours at Onikolobo axis of the town.

An unconfirmed report had it that the Buccaneers, who were retaliating the killing of a member of its group by the rival cult, launched a lethal gun battle with the group, forcing residents of Oluwo, Onikolobo, Iyana-Oloke and its environs to shut their doors out of fear.

At the time of filing this report, LEADERSHIP was unable to ascertain the remote cause of the incident, but the atmosphere around the school premises was calm and peaceful when our correspondent visited the campus early yesterday. However, but tension was high in host communities of the institution.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olumiyiwa Adejobi, said he was only aware of only one dead body and pledged that the police were on top of the situation towards restoring peace to the institution.

Adejobi explained that the police were yet to confirm the identity of the dead body.
According to him, “We heard that he was either a ‘yahoo’ guy or a cult member, but what is certain is that the two groups are devilish? and the police have swung into action to restore normalcy in the areas.”

Men of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a private school bus driver, Mr. Godwin Etute for allegedly killing a 16-year old girl whom he attempted to rape in a school bus.

Etute, 26, subsequently dumped the corpse of the victim, identified as Tolu Gbadamosi, by the roadside and drove off but was later arrested by the police who acted on a tip-off from an eye witness who saw him committing the offence.

According to police sources, the incident happened at Egbe in Alimosho area of the state where both the suspect and the victim worked in a popular private school (name withheld).

LEADERSHIP learnt that Etute was the school bus driver, while the late Gbadamosi worked as an auxiliary teacher and also assisted the driver to transport school children between their school and their respective homes.

Problem started, according to source, when Etute? started wooing? Tolu to have sex with him but she repeatedly refused.

Our correspondent gathered that on the day of the incident, Etute drove the school bus to take children to the school with Gbadamosi in the morning but while only two of them were in the bus, he alleged parked the bus by the roadside and attempted to rape her right inside the school bus.

“When she refused, he grabbed her and tore her underwear, but the girl resisted him. And Etute started beating her,”? the source said.

In anger, Etute allegedly brought out a screw driver and stabbed Tolu and? she collapsed and died in the bus.

Gunmen have attacked two more police stations in Kano State, killing at least two people.

One of the attacks occurred at dawn on Monday, setting off a gun battle with police, residents said. On Sunday night, gunmen stormed another police station near a bus station, leaving two civilians dead.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence, but Kano, the main northern city in Nigeria, has been targeted in recent weeks by attacks claimed by Islamist group Boko Haram.

The violence has included coordinated bombings and shootings on January 20 that left at least 185 people dead — the worst attack yet attributed to the group in Africa's most populous country.

Monday's attack was the second in three days against the police station in the Mandawari neighbourhood, underlining the apparent inability of the authorities to halt the violence.

“It was crazy. These guys came on motorcycles and opened fire on the police station but they met tough resistance from the police, and it lasted around 20 minutes,” Jamilu Muhammad, who lives across the Mandawari station, told AFP.

Kano state police commissioner Ibrahim Idris confirmed the raid but said the gunmen “could not get access to the station,” and were “repelled by officers”. He made no mention of casualties.

“From my house I heard gunshots at exactly 5:50 am (0450 GMT) coming from around the police station,” said a local journalist who lives in the neighbourhood.

He said motorcycles were racing up and down his street as the sound of gunfire rang around the police station.

The attack occurred during Muslim morning prayers near the palace of the emir of Kano, the most important traditional leader in the city.

Dozens of soldiers went on patrol in the neighbourhood immediately after the assault but most later left, leaving only a truckload with seven soldiers outside the police station.

In Sunday's attack, a large group of gunmen converged on a police station in the Naibawa district, sparking a shootout with police that lasted more than 30 minutes, residents said.

“Two civilians were shot dead in the attack on the Naibawa police station,” Idris told AFP on Monday.

He said the gunmen threw an explosive inside the police building, causing damage, but said no officers were hurt.

Kano remains under a dusk to dawn curfew following the series of bombings and shootings on January 20 that mainly targeted police stations and killed at least 185 people.

Monday's attack was the fourth on police buildings since then.

On Saturday, a purported Boko Haram spokesman ruled out dialogue with Nigerian authorities and instead warned it would spread its attacks to another northern city in Africa's most populous country.

In leaflets distributed around Kano over the weekend, Boko Haram warned residents that it would continue to target the security services in northern Nigeria's main city.

Kano had previously escaped the worst of Boko Haram's violence, and the brazen January 20 attacks highlighted the group's renewed strength.

The sect has been blamed for the deaths of more than 900 people in roughly 160 separate attacks since July 2009. It has claimed attacks that have killed more than 200 people since the start of 2012.

In a media interview last week, President Goodluck Jonathan said the group must make clear demands as a basis for dialogue, and calls have grown for talks to end the violence.

But Jonathan's call was “not sincere,” self-declared Boko Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa told journalists by telephone in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, the group's base.

He warned that if members of the group being held by police in the northwestern city of Sokoto were not released, the group would launch attacks similar to those staged in Kano.

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A United States citizen kidnapped by gunmen in Delta State has returned to Georgia after being held captive for a week.

Tamara Lane says her brother-in-law William Gregory Ock arrived in Atlanta on Sunday morning. The 50-year-old was kidnapped on Jan. 20.

Lane said that a big crowd greeted Ock at the airport and that he “looks great.”

She says the family wanted to thank people for their prayers and thoughts.

The attack occurred outside a bank in Warri. A police spokesman said the gunmen attacked Ock as he came outside, shooting his police escort to death before abducting him.

Gunmen have shot dead a policeman in Kaduna State, police said on Sunday.

The policeman was shot dead by two armed men on motorcycles in the Rigasa area of the city, said Kaduna state police commissioner Ballah Nassarawa.

“We lost a policeman to two gunmen who shot him while he was returning from work and we think it was a robbery incident,” Nassarawa said.

“From all indications the gunmen were after the policeman's motorcycle,” he said.

But residents doubted the police chief's claim, saying the attackers did not steal the motorcycle.

“The gunmen rode abreast the policeman and shot him twice and sped off,” Rigasa resident Rabiu Tukur said. “They did not make any attempt to take his motorcycle which raised the fear that the attackers could be members of Boko Haram.”

The shooting came as security authorities grappled with a worsening Boko Haram threat in several northern areas.

Culled from AFP